Dennis Schamp, Manager Emeritus of The Comic Gallery in San Diego, California, sent us his experience with Free Comic Book Day 2008 (see “National Comics Holiday this Weekend”).

Just thought I'd share our experiences regarding this year's FCBD.

Build-up: 

We were able to get a few advertisements into the local free papers.  We also made sure that several of the local schools - elementary and secondary - had fliers, displays, posters, and samples to get the kids hyped about the festivities.  While we did contact the radio television stations, no one bothered to show up, although we did get a quick mention on one radio station's "what to do this weekend" segment. And just to make sure that the new customers hung out, we held a store-wide sale in addition to giving away free books.  We stocked about 45 of the available titles, and had many other freebies on the tables - the Iron Man and Star Wars figures, sports cards, and a few posters.

The Big Day:

We didn't have to take Mr. Field's advice about starting the giveaway an hour after opening - we had several groups already waiting at least 30 minutes before our opening time.  Once the doors were open, we stood back and let the fun begin.  For the first two hours our store enjoyed wall-to-wall customers - most of whom we had not seen in the store before.  It was fantastic!  The smile on the boss' face was a thing of beauty. 

After the initial frenzy, the store had a steady stream of visitors the rest of the day.  Many, if not all, took advantage of the sale.  Some, feeling like they were taking advantage of us, bought at least a pack of trading cards.  Many others obviously broke open both their and their kid's piggy bank and helped themselves to some great prices on statues, books, games, action figures...you name it, it went out the door that day. 

The mood was festive, and the people were bending over backwards to be polite to each other.  No one tried to grab more than their fair share, and some were genuinely surprised to see how many books they would be walking out the door with.  When our closing time (5:30 pm) came around, the last customer was at the register and the tables were bare. 

Thoughts:

Only two or three people said they saw our (paid) ad in the newspaper, so I don't know if we'd go that route next year.  On the other hand, many people were there with their kids because of the free publicity at the neighborhood schools.  Don't discount that as an idea for next year, friends.  More and more classes are using comics and graphic novels to help teach English to English language learners, and the research supporting their use is growing.  I think we might order about 10% more stock next year, just to have a better selection nearer the end of the day.  And...is it too much to ask to have the t-shirts just say "First Saturday in May" rather than be date specific?  That way, we don't have to buy them every year! 

Hope your FCBD was as good as ours - I look forward to hearing your stories.

The opinions expressed in this Talk Back article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.

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